outta a dome, outta a box, into Chapter 90

Asriel had found his way out to the courtyard steps and was crouched there, grumbling to himself, by the time Sans tracked him down. The skeleton sat with him and shot him a sideways look, though he waited for Asriel to speak first. It took another minute of growling and teeth grinding before the boy straightened up a bit.

"I can't believe this."

"Which part?" Sans asked.

Asriel held out his hands as if beckoning the universe to deliver words to him, fumbling a start a couple times before finally settling on: "All of it?"

"Fair."

The boy grimaced. "Why is he like that? I don't… I can't… Ugh."

"Chara kinda felt the same," Sans said. "Kept sayin', why is he my uncle?"

.

"It doesn't make sense. I don't get it, it shouldn't be possible." Asriel huffed and rubbed a hand across his face. "He killed how many of them? The other… time gods, I guess? Six, right?"

"That's what he claimed." Sans frowned. "Not killed. Same this as what happened to you and your sis. But they couldn't get back, I guess."

"Because he thought they were… Or. Maybe they really were destroying everything…? But… But Frisk wouldn't—"

"She capable of it, though?" Sans wondered.

"I mean, maybe? I don't know," Asriel said. "She's a time god. She might literally be able to, but in here?" He tapped his chest. "There's no chance." He grimaced and he wrapped his arms tight around himself. "Damn it."

.

The skeleton raised a brow and gave the kid a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Asriel's bristling fur softened and he looked at Sans with big, sad eyes. The skeleton's brows shot up.

"Uh. Y'alright?"

"I—! Ugh. Yeah." He stared at the ground. "…You don't think he's lying, do you?"

Sans frowned thoughtfully and leaned back on his hands. "It's… possible perceptions are screwed up, y'know? But, lyin'? Hate t'say, but I doubt it."

"That's what I thought, too." Asriel's ears drooped and he sagged where he sat.

Sans cocked his head to the side. He drummed his fingers on the stone. "So, uh. What got ya?"

"N-Nothing, never mind."

The skeleton's grin widened. "Heh. You're a terrible liar, kid. But, whatever floats your boat."

.

Asriel pouted. He glared at the ground for a few moments longer before he managed to look at the skeleton again. "Back home, me and… Sans. We… We really went through it. With the other time kids. The ones Chara possessed. It… got really bad, sometimes." He clenched his hands together. "Not all of them. But. They weren't supposed to be there. It was supposed to be Frisk. It's… kinda complicated, but—"

"I saw what Chara did," Sans said. "We pieced it together."

"Right, so… So I really think that… some of them wouldn't have stopped," Asriel said. "And Chara wouldn't, either, 'cause of the whole angry ghost thing. They'd feedback into each other. The only thing that saved us from not existing is that they'd jump ship when they thought they won and our universe always cycled backwards, but they didn't know that. I… I didn't either, I was so messed up, sometimes I tried to help." He grimaced and his eyes glistened at the corners. "But Sans, he… God, if he had a weapon like that back then to use on the bad ones, to get Frisk back in line with us faster, I know he would have used it. He wouldda blasted them every chance he got! A-And how could you even argue with it?!"

"But they weren't all bad, yeah?"

"N-No, no, some were… They were fine. But they weren't… right, they didn't belong. I think they knew that, too." The boy's ears drooped. "Sometimes, once they were done, I asked for my memories to be erased because I couldn't deal with it, and I'd make the same stupid mistakes over and over, and… Ugh." Asriel dragged the heel of his hand across his eyes. "Some of them wouldn't, they'd say: oh, don't worry Flowey, I know you'll do better next time." He scoffed loudly. "Yeah right. I couldn't. They'd reset and I'd be right back where I started."

"Sounds like a disaster," Sans said. "…Y'get it all back?"

Asriel shrugged. "It's… all muddled, still. I… I dunno, probably still lost a bunch, I have no idea. Couldn't care at the time, don't have the energy to now, anymore." He shook his head. "Those… Those guys wouldn't have deserved it, but… But—"

The skeleton raised his brows. "You agree with Gaster."

"I… I do and I hate it!" Asriel blurted. "Those bad ones, they're unkillable, and…! And what they do— the shit they put us through— if they won't ever change…!" He growled and squeezed his ears against his head. "Crap, I get why Frisk felt so weird about this, now. If some other time god or something totally wrecked his world, I… I dunno what else he could do." He gritted his teeth. "I just… I just keep thinking, if we could have sent them away back then, instead of Sans just throwing himself at it over and over and over, w-we couldda… He wouldn't…"

.

The boy's shoulders slumped and he let out a little sniffle, but he swiftly wiped his face on the back of his hand. Sans's face softened and he reached out to rub Asriel's back.

"Deep breaths, bud."

"Ugh, damn it," the boy grumbled. He shook his head. "Gaster basically said that he didn't want time gods to exist, right? And that's… not possible, either, there's no way. I dunno what else is going on out there, but 'cause of the CORE and… and I guess whatever Chara did with the souls she took, our world would need Frisk, no matter what." He grimaced. "And I-I know it's cheesy, but I need her no matter what, too. I… I'll set him on fire before I let him hurt her again."

"So, what d'ya wanna do?" Sans asked.

"I gotta show Frisk," Asriel said. "And we gotta get that gun."

"I, uh, don't think it can do crap to her anymore, kid," the skeleton said. "Think that's why the guy's so outta it." He gave a little shrug. "He might be the protag in his own story, but he ain't it, here. Shit didn't work out." He smiled sideways. "Or maybe he had to learn revenge ain't the answer."

"Whatever, that's fine, but I… I dunno, I'd feel better if we had it, anyway," Asriel said. "You, um…? You see us finding it anywhere?"

Sans shrugged. "Nah, but I got a couple decent guesses as to where it might be stashed." He got to his feet, stretched, then offered his hand. "Unless you wanna tap out. Could get ya back to the castle."

"No, I'll go with you," he said.

.

He grabbed Sans's hand and found himself stumbling over on a clean, tiled floor and falling heavily onto his tail. He got up, rubbing his lower back, and looked up at a tall set of pale golden double doors marked with the four-winged Delta Rune, a spiral in its centre instead of the usual circle. Sans held up one finger and vanished. Asriel's ears perked to a soft hum and a clicking within the room, and the door opened up, a skeleton hand reaching out and beckoning him inwards.

.

The goat boy edged into a large, chaotic office. Daylight scattered through stained glass that made up most of the far wall, casting flecks of gold and blue across everything in sight. Stacks of books, weathered scrolls, and packages of snacks piled up on chairs broke up the layout leading up to a hefty wooden desk that sat dead-centre of the room on an old, stripy rug. The walls to either side were lined with shelves packed so full with books that they looked close to bursting. Big chunks of crystal, some unrefined and others cut and polished, were stacked up in haphazard piles in all corners of the room but one, where an old statue of an unusual dog with the sun caught in its antlers stood guard.

.

Sans strolled straight up to the desk, giving the rings of a golden armillary sphere on top of it a spin as he moved past and began rifling around in the wide, heavy drawers.

"Uhhhhh…" Asriel looked around cautiously. "Is it okay to be doing that?"

"Dunno," Sans said.

"Where are we, anyway?" the boy wondered. "Is it—?"

.

A thunderous crash rumbled through the room and the light dimmed as if curtains had been yanked over the windows. The dog statues eyes lit with beaming yellow and a golden mist gathered above them, sparking like a storm cloud.

"WHO DARES!?" A deep, warped voice bellowed. "WHO D-DARES ENTER MY—! Oh!" The distortion faded down in a heartbeat and the sunshiny light returned to the room. "Sans! A-Annyeong!"

Sans smiled up at the cloud, unbothered. "Hey, Alph."

"Ooh, is th-that Asriel there with you?"

Asriel, fur bristling, soul still abuzz, took a deep breath and stepped closer to Sans, raising his hand in greetings. "H-Howdy."

"Hi! G-Good, okay, no worries, then." Alphys's cloud began to dissipate, but then quickly swirled back into form. "Oh, w-wait! Was there, um, something you guys were looking for?"

"Yup. Interloper's weapon," Sans said. "Y'happen t'have it?"

"I doooo, why?"

Asriel puffed himself up. "We need it, 'cause—"

"Research," Sans said. "Couple things I wanna look at."

"S-Sure, it's in… That room, you know the one?"

"Gotcha." The skeleton kicked a drawer closed and turned towards one of the bookshelves. "Thanks, pal."

"Ooh, wait, are you going to go s-see our, uh, prisoner?" Alphys asked.

"Already went." Sans began to run his fingertips over the spines of books.

"And?!"

"Yankin' him tomorrow, probably." He grabbed the edge of a thin, hardcover book and tilted it outwards from the shelf. "We'll see how that goes."

"Mhm! K-Keep me posted, okay? I'll leave y-you guys to it."

.

As the magical cloud vanished and the statue's eyes dimmed, Sans grabbed another book, a comic with a cat girl on the cover, and then a big, chunky tome of maps from the edge of the shelf. The floor rumbled beneath their feet and the bookshelf slid inwards, then off to the side, opening up a secret workspace behind.

.

This little nook looked a lot more familiar to Asriel than the office was. It was light and clean, made of white stone, with art prints of comic characters and fanciful bowls of food on the walls, and comfy seats scattered around. A large worktable with an array of blueprints and alabaster limbs on it would have been unnerving if Asriel hadn't already met the monster they belonged to.

.

The weapon wasn't anywhere out in the open, but Sans didn't seem perturbed. He closed his good eye and the duller light in his left one flickered. It darted haphazardly around and settled right onto the table. He strolled over to it and chuckled the disembodied limbs away in a shock of blue magic, then grabbed the edge of the table and heaved it upwards.

.

The tabletop flipped up, dragging with it a long, wide box made of metal secured to the underside and a sliding base. Sans stuck his claws into a keyhole and gave it a zap, and the door on the container folded down like a paper fan, revealing the large, white blaster tucked away within.

.

Sans heaved the weapon out and Asriel stepped in to shove the table's secret compartment back down. As the skeleton thunked the blaster onto the table's surface to get a good look, the goat boy was struck with a cold hit of déjà vu. He cautiously brushed the thing with his fingers. It was rigid and carried a faint, dark hum through the boney construct. There were still two charges— orange and red— in its chromatic chamber.

"This is weird," he muttered.

"Built from a blaster blueprint, huh?" Sans mused. "Eyes, horns, teeth. Weird."

"Yeah, but… Look."

.

Asriel held out his hands. He took a deep breath, setting his soul aglow. A spiral of magic, red at first, then a shifting, rainbow aurora, wrapped around his arm like tendrils of vine, coalescing in his hand. The magic twisted around his fingers, then burst into sparkles to reveal a weapon that was eerily similar in appearance, though lacked the beast-like attributes Gaster's had. Out of the void, it was heavy— Asriel could feel it straining his soul like a weight resting on top of it. He took a deep breath and held his it in both hands to keep it steady.

"Chaos Buster," he said. "I made this."

Sans looked it over with his brows raised. "…Kinda uncanny, huh?" he said. "Same type 'o thing?"

"Nah, it just shoots," Asriel said. "No time stuff." His snout crinkled. "I… I must've seen something like this before, right?"

"Y'think?" Sans wondered. "He couldn'ta seen yours?"

"I don't think so, that wouldn't make sense." Asriel frowned to himself. "Maybe Uncle G, had…? Maybe he had something like it, but for something else? I… I couldda saw… Like, in his stuff where he worked, maybe?" The boy flinched as the bottom of the weapon began to seep into dust between his fingers. He let it fade into iridescent sparkles and took a deep breath.

"Y'alright?" the skeleton asked.

Asriel nodded. "Y-Yeah. Just have to call things a couple times out of the void before they aren't a pain to sustain in normal places. It's not one I use a lot." He shook out his hand, scattering some glittering energy to the ground. "Never mind. Seriously, Sans, do you have any clue how this mightta happened?"

"Which part?"

"The…! You know, how he knows me and Chara? How he's…? I dunno, the gun, the accent, the stuff, I—"

Sans shrugged. "Hard t'say. My, uh, main experience was pullin' Chara's memories from out there, so I ain't exactly an expert in all this other world crap."

"Right. Right, sorry," Asriel said, ears drooping. "I-I forgot, my bad."

.

Sans shot him a sympathetic look. He turned his attention back on Gaster's weapon and put one hand on the maw and the other against the chamber. His bad eye flickered to life and ran back and forth as if he was reading a scrawl of text across the surface of the blaster.

"Hm. Magic's been solid a while. Hard to tell how long, though. It's… Whew." His brow furrowed and a little sweat beaded at his temples. "Gotta be honest, kid, I don't think I ever seen somethin' like this."

"It's probably been in and outta time like a hundred times," Asriel mused. "Maybe that'd do it, huh?"

"Could be. Dunno. So, uh." He opened his good eye and wiped his brow. "You still gonna torch the thing?"

"I-I only said that 'cause I was mad!" Asriel said. "I… think I wanna give it to Frisk, first. Maybe she can get something outta it. Then, if you want, you could hold it?" He tapped the colours in the chamber. "Maybe this stuff could help you somehow, I dunno."

"Hm. Not sure, but I ain't gonna rule it out." He hefted the blaster off the table and squinted suspiciously at it. "Dunno what t'think, sometimes."

"Yeeeaaah," Asriel said quietly.

.

After setting Alphys's secret room back up the way it was, the monsters returned to the castle with their prize. They found Frisk alone in the bedroom, snug in bed, taking a nap. Sans figured that was a great idea; took the spot on the windowsill and passed out, too.

.

Even though nothing was wrong anymore— there was nobody hunting them— Asriel couldn't help a chill of unease passing through his body. He sat on the side of Frisk's bed and patted her head absently for a little while as he debated waking her and getting straight to work again. Her face was soft and peaceful, her breathing even; the ebb and flow of her magic steady and rhythmic, like the slow lapping of waves.

.

Asriel sighed softly and got to his feet. He slipped out of the room and patrolled the corridor, his thoughts locked upon the skeleton in the dungeon. He replayed the conversation over and over, running through every word, every gesture; every flare of magic. Ambivalence churned uncomfortably within him. He felt a little sick.

.

Nothing had changed by the time he returned to the room, so he simply sat and stewed as the light peeking in beneath the curtains began to dim.

.

A while later, a gentle knock on the door snapped him out of his thoughts. He perked up, but before he'd said a word, Toriel stuck her head into the room. She looked at him with surprise and he gulped hard. She awkwardly cleared her throat.

"…Chara is not…?"

He shook his head. She nodded stiffly.

"Pardon me."

She drew back but Asriel rushed to his feet.

"T-Toriel, wait," he said. He trained his ears on her and heard her feet settle, though she didn't take another step.

.

The boy hurried out into the corridor to join her. She averted her eyes as he pulled the door shut quietly behind them.

"You can call me something else," he said.

"…Pardon?" she said.

"I'm sorry. That I look like him," he said. "I must, right?"

"…It is alright, boy, you cannot help it," she said.

"Call me a different name," he said. "Anything you want. Whatever helps, okay?" He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm… Uh. I'm really sorry to give you grief and stuff."

Toriel shook her head. "Do not fret. I…" She took a deep breath and straightened up, her red eyes resting fully upon him with the faintest tinge of warmth. "I confess. It is difficult. But it is worth it, to see my daughter smile, as cliché as that may sound." She clenched her fingers together a little and then cautiously placed her hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, child."

Asriel nodded. Toriel gave him a soft squeeze before she readjusted herself, folding her hands into her sleeves. Her ears drooped.

"Oh dear, I… had not considered," she said quietly. "I… bear some resemblance to your mother as well, do I not?"

"Ah!" Asriel's eyes went wide and he grinned awkwardly, putting his hands up as if to pause her. "D-Don't worry about that! It's okay! It's… I mean. It's not really the same, I know it's way harder for you."

"It is different, but it is not a competition," she said. "Forgive me, I have been insensitive."

Asriel shook his head so quickly his ears flopped back and forth. "It's fine, I-I don't mind, I—"

.

A little burst of magic and the sound of footsteps interrupted them, as did Papyrus and Chara coming around the corner. Asriel thanked them profusely in his mind and shot them an awkward smile and a wave. Chara stalled in her tracks and looked between the two of them with a brow raised. Papyrus, on the other hand, grinned brightly.

"Greetings, mom and Asriel! Nice to see you both in the same vicinity!"

"Small progress, hm?" Chara smiled from the corner of her mouth before levelling her gaze at her brother. "So? How'd it go?"

"Your mom was looking for you," Asriel blurted.

"Ah, yes, I was," Toriel said with a smile. "I thought, perhaps, we all might spend some time in one of the gardens tonight. There is said to be a star shower blowing in."

"Oh! Um. Yeah, that sounds nice," Chara said.

"Aah, it's been a couple months!" Papyrus said. "I'll get Sans, he loves those! Do you think Frisk would like it?"

"I'll tell them," Asriel said. "I… I need to do a few things back in the room anyway. I'll catch up?"

"Sure." His sister looked at him skeptically. "…Things are okay?"

"Yeah, of course they are."

Though Chara didn't look convinced, she nodded. "Tell Frisk… Or Sans, it'll probably be the garden with the moon pool in it. If not, I'll come find you eventually."

"Sure," he said. "Um! Have fun!"

.

Asriel turned and rushed back to the room before anyone could question him farther. Sans had rolled off the windowsill and onto the floor, but was still snoozing comfortably. Frisk hadn't moved at all. Asriel knelt down and carefully shook the skeleton by the shoulder until one of his dark eyes opened a crack.

"Everyone's goin' out to a star shower or something," Asriel said, "they said you'd wanna see."

"Hm." Sans smiled. "Want me outta your fur?"

"Only if you wanna be," he said. "…I know Frisk won't mind if you stick around."

Sans stiffly sat upright, rubbing his back. "I'll split. Where to?"

"Moon pond garden or something."

Sans stuck his thumb up, then vanished.

.

With a heavy sigh, Asriel traipsed over to where Frisk was still dozing. He sat down on the edge of the bed and clenched his fingers together. He bounced his leg and glanced back at her. Nothing. He grimaced and shifted up onto his knee. That got a small movement out of her, but little else. He sighed.

"Hey, Frisk?" he said. "Could you get up?"

"Hm?" The kid raised her head a bit, blinking groggily. "Heeeey, bro, wassup?" She jolted, eyes wide, and she sat up quickly. "Sorry! I guess I napped, have you been back long?"

"Long enough." He smiled with amusement and pointed at the window.

Frisk turned and let out a squeak. "Oh heck."

Asriel snicked. "Relax. It's fine. You needed it."

.

The boy shuffled fully onto the bed to sit across from his sister. "So. Um. I didn't really get to ask you much about the hearing thing, was that okay?"

"Oh, yeah, fine, mostly just boring," Frisk assured him. "Hoooow was Gaster after it, was he okay?"

Asriel chuckled. "Welllll… Yeah, I guess. You freaked him out, though, he couldn't get it through his thick skull why you'd help him out."

"Did you guys tell him?" she asked.

"Kinda," he said. "I…" He winced. "Do you… wanna just see everything? My feelings that go with it are… messy, though."

"Sure. I mean, as long as you're okay with it," she said.

.

Asriel held his arms out and Frisk scooted into his lap, pressing close to sync their souls against one another. He focussed his thoughts and dipped his head, letting her put a hand on his face, the pads of her fingers seeping toasty energy through his fur.

.

They were still as the magic between them churned. Frisk drew in a sharp breath through her teeth, as if she'd been stung by something. She pulled back, the deep red of her eyes shimmering and glossy with tears.

"C-Crap," she muttered, her voice cracking.

"I know." Asriel put a hand on her head.

"He was like you guys," she said quietly. "B-But he didn't… He never got any help."

"Yyyyeeeah."

"But he didn't think I was… He just thinks we all suck?" She sighed heavily and wiped her eyes. "Man…"

"We know he's wrong," Asriel said.

She shook her head. "I-I'm not worried about that, but he's gotta have been through ton of awful stuff."

"If we believe him."

"You do, though, right?" Frisk pushed. "It felt like you did."

The boy bit his lip. His ears drooped and his shoulders sagged. "Yeah."

.

Frisk leaned back, half-flopping back onto the mattress. Her brow furrowed heavily and she glared into space. "He's so sure you're the Asriel he knows."

"Yeah." The boy's ears drooped. "Even if I believe he… he mightta had no choice, with whatever he was doing, that bit is something I can't understand."

"I'm just tryin' to smoosh it in my brain with everything else I saw," Frisk said. She pouted and drummed her fingers. Her eyes went wide. "Wait. What if…? What if he is dad?"

"We already know he can't be," Asriel said. "And there's no way Uncle G would ever in a million years—"

"Dad before I was ever born, though," Frisk said. "Time splits like a gazillion times forever, right? I dunno how all that works and it makes my head hurt, but what if he's… him, but like, whatever that person told him at the CORE, it made… me not happen? Do you think that could be the thing?! We know it messed up his anchor, but what if it's actually… me? Or it's supposed to be?"

"I, uh…" Asriel's ears pinned back and his brows shot straight up. "I… I mean, that's… Maybe?!" He put a hand to the side of his head. "If he was some alternate universe Gaster but of our universe, that could be how…" He growled quietly. "When we get home, we gotta lock things down fast, this is getting crazy."

.

Frisk nodded. She sighed softly and rubbed her eyes again. "Maybe… banishment wasn't the right pick."

"What? Why?" Asriel said. "What the heck else are they supposed to do with this guy?"

"I dunno, but he'd be… safe here, right? Once we're gone?" Frisk grimaced. "Maybe it's way too mean to send him home if it's… so wrong there."

"Guess we can talk to him about it. Or… I can, still dunno if he'll talk to you much," the boy said. "It seemed like that's what he wanted now, though. The letter might have been enough to give him an idea." He shrugged. "Jerk or not, he's still Gaster. He's super smart, he mightta already thought of something."

"I hope so," Frisk said. She fumbled for words for a moment before she settled on, "Ugh." She crossed her arms tight against her chest. "Why the heck would someone mess him up like this?"

"I dunno," Asriel said. "It's really weird. Not angry-ghost-Chara's M.O., either. You were the one who saw it: how did they feel? Did you get anything like that?"

"Not really," the kid said. "It felt almost like they just didn't want him to die. Which is pretty fair, I think."

"Was it Sans or Paps, somehow? Or, hell, could it've been Alphys?" Asriel wondered.

Frisk shrugged. "Not Paps. Too short. And it didn't talk like any of them. I honestly got no clue."

"Okay, whatever, doesn't matter," the boy said with a shake of his head. "We'll… Shit, I dunno. We'll see what happens, I guess." He sighed heavily. "Guess I'll have to break it to Chara that we can't just dunk on the guy all day."

Frisk let out a little snicker. "Yeah, that'd be good."

.

Asriel readjusted himself and pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his item box. "One more thing. I got the gun."

"Oh yeah?" Frisk's eyes bugged out. "Whatchu gonna do with it?"

"I thought maybe you could take a look," he said. He dragged the weapon out into reality and it fell heavily across his lap. "Sans said the magic felt pretty weird. Maybe you could get something from it?"

The kid leaned towards it, eyeing it cautiously. She rolled her fingers across her thumbs before she carefully rested them on the top of the chromatic chamber.

"Notice anything?" he asked.

"Yeah, up close it looks a lot like those blasters you shot me with when we were doin' all that Hyperdeath stuff," she said. "That's weird."

"Ah. Yeah. Um." His mouth stretched into a pained, sheepish smile. "Sorry."

His sister laughed. "I know, you already said sorry like a million times, don't worry."

.

Frisk took a breath and rested her palms against the weapon's surface. She closed her eyes and let its magic rush through her mind, taking it on a fragmented journey through shards of distorted places and swells of emotions. The grip of cold, skeletal hands, deep in the heart of the CORE. A rush of anxiety and determination. Flashes of colour and the deepest of darkness, then a deep, stagnant monochrome. Strange, human-like faces with wide, unnerving smiles and black eyes. Fighting. Falling. Begging. Pleading.

.

Sans was there, for just an instant. Dust, and then not. Broken, and then not.

.

Then came burning anger. Deep, dismal regret. Pursuit. A blade shattered, and the unearthly shriek of something trying to wrest the weapon away from its owner.

.

Then, peace, but only for an instant. Gaster, grip on the blaster, face grim and stalwart. He confronted a grey star with such weight in his soul it was like a mountain settled in his chest and was trying to drag him to his knees. He left, into the void, and the pursuit began again.

.

More faces. More fighting. More pleading. More deep, timeless grey.

.

A shiver ran up and down Frisk's spine as she jerked back and away from the blaster. She drew in a deep breath to steady herself.

"I-It's… so weird," she said. "Feels like… it's been around for like two weeks and hundreds of years at the same time. It kinda makes me feel sick."

"You see anything?" Asriel asked.

Frisk nodded. "Yeah, but it was sorta confusing. Lotsa fragments. I think a lot of fighting of… those anomalies. The bad ones." She frowned thoughtfully. "He really… I don't think he wanted to. He felt like he had to."

The goat boy sighed. "Figures." He dragged his palm across his face. "Ugh, I dunno, I dunno what to think anymore." He stashed the blaster away again. "What do you think?"

Frisk shrugged. "There's so much stuff, I'm not sure. But if I can help somehow, I… I kinda need to. I said it before, but nobody—"

"I know. Nobody deserves their whole universe melting or… turning grey, or whatever."

.

Asriel huffed. He got to his feet and rubbed his temples. "Jeez, what a mess."

"Sorry," Frisk said. "Things got all complicated, huh?" She smiled bashfully. "But, um… Thanks for going over there. I'm glad you did."

"Yeah, yeah. Me too," he said.

She opened her arms to offer a hug and Asriel bent down to accept it. She gave him a warm squeeze and rested her face against one of his floppy ears.

"I know it's tough," she said quietly. "It kinda affected you, huh?"

Asriel's cheeks flushed. "Y… Yeah."

"S'okay. You're doin' good, y'know?"

He rested his snout on her shoulder. "Heh. Kinda lame, but it really made me miss Sans."

"No, it makes sense." She petted his fur between his horns. "D'you need anything?"

"Nah." Asriel drew back, but gave her a gentle bump on the forehead with the tip of his snout. "Thanks."

.

After a few more minutes to wind down, the two of them left the room and headed for the portal at the end of the hall. Frisk's ring easily opened the way to the garden. The night was all aglow in blue and teal as the dark sky above wafted with streams of cool, shifting colours. Pinpricks of stars glittered through, and little dots of light streaked downwards, falling to the ground like bright, colourful chunks of hail.

.

The silhouette of Papyrus bounced around in the distance with the front of his jacket held out like a pouch to catch the falling lights. Chara followed leisurely behind, plucking up a few from the ground. Toriel and Sans were a little brighter, dyed in the glow of the water from the crescent moon-shaped pond as they sat together beneath a parasol, like Frisk's but much larger. The small lights bounced harmlessly off the canopy, gleaming until they hit the grass or plopped into the water.

.

Something small and light plunked off of Frisk's head and she squeaked, clapping her hand to the spot.

"What the heck…?!" She knelt down to check the ground and plucked up a little, pink crystal in the shape of a five-pointed star.

"Frrriiiisssk, did you get one?!" Papyrus called to her. "If you did, you should definitely eat it!"

"…It's food?" the kid asked skeptically.

"It looks like a rock," Asriel said.

"It's good for you!" the skeleton insisted.

Frisk looked at her brother. She shrugged and so did he. She tentatively gave it a lick and her eyes widened.

"Oh! It's like candy!"

"It's just a natural type of booster," Chara said as she joined them. She showed off a handful of stars in all different colours, then offered them to Asriel.

He carefully picked out a gold one and popped it in his mouth. "Hm! Weird. Okay."

"Is it like those, um, little crystal things at the potion shop?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah. They're random, though," Chara said, stashing the rest she had in her pocket. "People just like them for the aesthetics."

"They're not completely random, you have to take into account the points and the facets and the colours!" Papyrus called.

"I meant the flavour," Chara said with a laugh.

"Oh! Nyeh. That is true."

.

As they got closer, Sans waved sleepily at them from where he slumped against Toriel's side. Frisk darted over to him and greeted him with a hug. He jolted with surprise and Toriel stifled a laugh beneath her hand. She nudged him lightly with her elbow. He scoffed quietly at himself and gave the kid a squeeze.

"Hi to you, too," he said.

"Thanks for going," she said.

"Oh. Uh. No problem." He patted her on the back. "Ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah." She sat back on the grass. "I'll mostly just kinda go by what he wants to do, though."

"So will you all be staying in the Soul of the World for the time being?" Toriel asked.

"I will, at least," Sans said. "Dunno 'bout the rest o' these goofs."

"Nyeh heh, as if we're going to just leave you on your own with some weird other-world stranger," Papyrus said.

"I wanna be there, but also I kinda don't wanna get in his space," Frisk said, "so maybe we can go between the castle or Snowdin or something if it gets kinda weird or anything?"

"That is a great idea, friend, I think that'll work out just fine," Papyrus said.

"I will accompany you for a time, then," Toriel said. "Especially for the escort. I believe Undyne may choose to, as well. These are rather unusual circumstances, after all."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sans said.

.

"So this is really going forward, huh?" Chara said. "I still don't know if it's smart to have him and Frisk staying in the same place."

"He's… not gonna do anything," Asriel said quietly.

Chara whipped around to look at him incredulously. "Seriously?"

The boy nodded. Chara cut her eyes at Frisk.

"How did you—?"

"She didn't. He did," Asriel said. He beckoned her and Papyrus closer and he sat on the ground next to Frisk. "Lemme just… Ugh. It's a lot."

.

Asriel did his best to explain everything he'd seen in the dungeon, as well as what he and Frisk had discussed afterwards. The whole tale left Chara looking ashen and gripping so tight to Papyrus's arm that he had to wince a little bit. Still, he held onto her in return, his eyes and soul glowing softly.

.

"Darling girl, what is wrong?" Toriel asked.

Chara swiftly shook her head. "It's… It's nothing, it's just… disturbing, I guess."

"You sure?" Frisk asked. "You don't look so good."

"Yes. I'm fine," she said steadily. Even so, red flickered like the glint of flame in her irises.

"Really?" Asriel's ears drooped. "'Cause you look pissed."

"It's… Like I said. It's disturbing," she repeated. She finally loosened her grip on her skeleton brother and took a deep breath. "But it seems like… it should be me who's his nemesis, not Frisk."

"What?! Noooo, no way," Frisk said.

"And like I said, it sounds like he just has issues with time gods existing at all, doesn't matter what kind," Asriel said. He looked to Sans. "That's sorta the read you got, too, right?"

The sharp-toothed skeleton shrugged and nodded. "Guy got burned, bad."

"By… me," Chara grumbled.

"Uh. Clearly not you, you never did any of that crap to him," Asriel said.

.

Chara scowled. "If he's really our uncle, just from some other, fractured place, then it absolutely is," she snapped, jabbing the ground with her finger. "That ghost that's driving those anomalies is the same person as me, it's—!"

"My dear, please relax," Toriel said. "It is… confusing. And stressful. But you cannot hold yourself accountable for… another you. However that may be. And, do not forget, if this is even what has occurred, with a large emphasis on the if."

"I don't think it's that big of an if anymore, though," Chara protested. "If it was because of my poison that this happened, then—"

"Pigeon." Sans said the word slow and steady, stalling her in her tracks. He reached out and held her face in both hands. "Chara. We talked 'bout this."

The girl's whole expression drooped and she gripped tight to his fingers, but she quickly straightened up and shook her head. "I… Yes. I know. I get it." She took a deep breath. "Sorry, everyone." Her mouth pulled into a thin line, but the glow in her eyes began to fade. She groaned rubbed her face. "I don't mean to cycle back into… this."

Toriel cooed and leaned in to gently kiss her on the head. "Shh, my child, do not fret," she whispered.

.

"Hey," Asriel said quietly. "I understand."

"I know you do," Chara said.

"And it's gonna be fine."

"I'm sure it will be." The freckled girl gave Papyrus a squeeze and got to her feet. She turned her eyes on Frisk. "We need to be careful with him, yeah?"

Frisk nodded. "We're gonna be."

"Okay." Chara sighed. She took one of the little stars out of her pocket and tossed it into her mouth. "Well. Since I'm going to be brooding about that for a while. Sans? Should we go do a little work?"

Sans cracked a smile. "Thought you'd never ask. But, uh." He offered his hand with a glimmer of blue in his fingers. "C'mere?"

Chara's eyes widened, but she nodded. Her chest began to glow, and the magic travelled down into her palm. She clasped hands with him and their magic burst and swirled in a bluster of wind, buffeting the ears of the goat monsters all over. Toriel let out a little oof and held tight to the large parasol.

.

Sitting where Sans had been, the much larger, three-eyed skeleton took shape. As soon as he was solid, he grinned and stretched out his four arms, cracking the knuckles. "Theeeere we go." He patted his chest. "Little better?" A faint purple blush tinted his cheekbones and he mumbled something under his breath.

Toriel chuckled and offered a hug that was readily accepted. She cupped the back of the large monster's skull and cooed affectionately. "Take care, my dears, try not to overwork yourselves."

"Overwork? Us? Never." He patted her on the back, then got to his feet. His bladed tail unfurled and the purple magic glittering between his bones surged towards the spikes jutting from his shoulder blades. As if unfurling from shadow, raven-like wings sprouted and flared out, light markings like eyes shining on the ends of the primary feathers.

"Yooo, cool," Frisk breathed.

"Gonna take a flight," he said. "Think a certain someone needs it. Catch ya back here?"

"We'll be around," Asriel said. He pulled out Gaster's weapon and offered it. "Take this, okay? Just in case."

The huge skeleton stuck a thumb up. He grasped the blaster tight in one of his four hands, stepped out from under the parasol, then shot up into the sky with one flap of his large wings.

.

Frisk stared up at the dark speck vanishing into the night, jaw agape. "Whoooa."

"Ah, I had not seen that before," Toriel said. "How lovely."

"That's, uh… That's pretty cool," Asriel said.

"They are!" Papyrus said. His grin faltered a little. "Ah. Poor Chara. I hope Sans can make her feel a little better."

"Flying around with Sans made me feel a lot better one time," Frisk said quietly, the warmth of nostalgia prickling in her chest. "I bet it'll help. He's good at that."

.

The kids settled in and stayed with Toriel until the star shower finally passed them by. Papyrus came away with quite a haul, enough that he could fill a few jars to leave at the steps of the Sun Temple across the courtyard and still have all his own personal storage options overflowing.

.

They bid goodnight to Toriel and returned to their room, but nobody was really in the mood to sleep yet. Papyrus took the opportunity to show the others some potion techniques. He had reagents stashed away everywhere and plenty of empty flasks and bottles to experiment with. Frisk paid rapt attention, but by the time Papyrus was going through the meanings of the facets on the fallen star boosters, Asriel had passed out in his chair. Frisk was glad— at least he could give all that worrying a bit of a break, she thought.

.

After the potion lesson was done and the kid had come away with a few basic recipes and a handful of star boosters to put in her phone, she still wasn't tired yet. Papyrus decided to go get them some tea, so they tucked Asriel away in a bed and the skeleton headed off on his own.

.

Frisk took the moment alone to send a few new notes back home to the apparent dead-end that was her brother's phone. She mentioned the hearing, her worries, her confusion; the red that hadn't left her irises. Seeing it all in text like that helped her sort out her thoughts a little.

.

The longer that she sat with what Asriel had showed her, the more she was sure something had to be done. Maybe something only she could do, if there wasn't any sort of time kid on Gaster's side. She didn't have much of a clue how she could help, yet, but that wasn't about to stop her from trying to figure it out.

.

As Frisk popped into the line of unanswered hearts she'd left for Sans and left a few more, someone pushed the door open. She looked up, expecting Papyrus, but instead saw a different, much larger skeleton duck inside. The fusion of Sans and Chara stuck up a hand to wave at her absently as he strode across the room and collapsed face-first onto the vacant bed, several arms and tail hanging down limply.

"Sheesh, you guys okay?" Frisk asked as she got up to check.

When the skeleton turned his head, only the right and centre of the three purple eyes were alight, the purple flickering with a shimmer of gold. Frisk frowned worriedly.

"Something happen?"

"Nnnoo." The answer came mostly in Chara's voice. "Not really. Tired. Sans passed out on the way back."

"Ah heck, did you guys push it too hard?"

"Welllll…" Chara rubbed a hand over her face and winced. "Maybe just slightly. But it's…" She yawned widely. "Oof. It was only to make up for lost time." She managed to get a couple hands under herself and sat up, rubbing groggily at the dark eye. "We'll sleep and it'll be fine."

.

Frisk nodded, but she couldn't keep the worry from her face. "Paps is gettin' tea."

"Oh. Good."

"Guess there wasn't much, huh?"

The large skeleton shook her head. "Tonight, progress only comes in the form of finding out where not to look. Which… isn't all bad, yeah? Necessary. But still kinda demoralizing, after a while."

"Thanks again for doing this," Frisk said quietly. "If… If by some like, super luck or something, you guys find home really quick or something after this, we'll still wait for the crystal thing."

"You better, after all that work," Chara teased. She laughed hoarsely. "I know." She beckoned to the kid. "C'mere?"

.

Frisk hopped up onto the bed and Chara lifted her up under her arms, her sharp-toothed grin spreading a bit wider.

"Yeesh, you look even smaller like this."

"Yeah, duh, you're like ten feet tall," Frisk said.

Chara chuckled. She put the kid back down on her leg and brushed her claws through her hair to smooth it out a little. "You gotta take care of this when you go home, I'm not gonna be there to brush it for you."

"I-I know!" Frisk puffed out a little sigh and grabbed the second-closest hand to her. "But we're gonna see each other again so it doesn't matter anyway."

"You can't go that long between brushing your hair."

"I'm not gonna!" The kid laughed. She looked up at her with big eyes. "So. Um. You feeling any better?"

"A little." Chara's grin quirked to the side. "I know the outbursts are a little embarrassing, but—"

"No they're not."

Chara couldn't suppress the surprise that flashed across her face. Her frosty white cheekbones flushed a little purple. "A-Anyway! I'm going to be fine. I always am. We'll figure out what to do with that jerk and it'll be settled."

"Yeah, super true," Frisk said. She pushed in and hugged onto her. "S'gonna be fine."

Again, Chara's eyes widened and her smile fell. Her face softened and she put an arm around the kid, only to reflexively mask a yawn behind the other. "Hey, Frisk?"

"Yeah?"

"…You're a good kid, yeah? Thank you."

.

The sound of china and metal clinking announced Papyrus before he burst in with a big tray laden with tea and scones. He grinned widely upon setting eyes on the huge skeleton.

"Oh! Welcome back!" he said, forcing his voice a bit lower than usual for Asriel's sake. "How did it go?"

"About the same as last time," Chara said.

"Ah, that's alright, I'm sure it'll work eventually," he said as he slid the tray onto the table. "I'm a little surprised you're still holding together."

Chara shrugged one shoulder. "I can't control what direction Sans is gonna shoot out in, so I'd rather he be awake for that."

"That is very fair!" Papyrus began to pour the tea. "Nyeh heh, if I'd known you'd be back, I would've brought some bigger cups."

"Just gimme three of them," Chara joked.

xXxXx

The next morning, after she and Sans split apart, Chara, Frisk, and Papyrus left for the Soul of the World to prepare the cabin in its chamber so it would be a little comfier to stay in. Asriel, despite still feeling disturbed down every strand of his fur, elected to go with Sans again to the dungeon.

.

Marama, looking graceful but a little tired, Undyne, fully-armoured, and Alphys in one of her white and gold magus coats with a pouch on her belt, were all waiting there when they arrived. Only the lizard joined them as they headed behind the statue and below.

.

Gaster was awake, sitting stiff in his chair, brow faintly creased, the bone around his eye sockets dark. Breakfast sat unfinished on the table and a cup of tea hung loosely in his fingers. Asriel took a spot on the wall right across from him, arms folded, eyes locked on him unblinkingly.

"Sup?" Sans said as he strolled up. "Ready to go?"

Gaster's eyes flicked up, then looked over to the two monsters behind him. Though Asriel radiated a chill, Alphys smiled and gave a little wave. The old skeleton sighed, finished his tea, and stiffly got to his feet.

"Suppose I am," he said. "Forgive me if I'm a little slow. Rough night."

Sans tilted his head towards Alphys and stepped back. "All yours, Alph."

.

"A-Alright!" Alphys said brightly, clapping her hands together. "Thanks for cooperating, I r-really think this is for the best." She stepped forward and put her fingers against the bars of the cell. "A-And you'll feel a lot better, too, I bet."

A spark of her yellow magic jumped along the metal and the door to the cell revealed itself as if drawn into existence. She slotted a little crystal into a panel and the door vanished entirely. The skeleton didn't move until she beckoned him out. His first step beyond the line of the bars was slow and cautious but, once nothing erupted, shrieked, or sparked, he left the cell completely. Alphys grinned and she pulled over a stool and gestured to it.

"If you could just, um, h-have a seat, we'll do the security charms and then y-you should be good to go."

"Is it appropriate for me to ask what exactly they do?" he said.

"Of course! I-It wouldn't be fair to just, um, put them on you and not t-tell you," Alphys said. "Um. Sorry, could you…? C-C-Could you, um, take your shirt off?"

Sans snorted out a laugh and the lizard turned and shushed him sharply, though her cheeks flushed.

.

Gaster, somehow, looked a little less concerned. He nodded and pulled off the long-sleeved tunic and unfastened the dark plate that protected his neck and chest until he was left, bare-boned except for a set of silver and gold Delta Rune medallions he had been wearing tucked away. He took those off, too, and set them down on top of his other things with the utmost care.

.

The soul hovering in Gaster's ribcage pulsed a faint, bi-coloured glow in gold-amber and cyan blue. Though his bones were marked with a faint lacing of scars almost everywhere, few of them looked new. Asriel frowned, leaning forward as he fixed his gaze on a particularly large, wide gash— long-since healed into an off-white scar— that struck a diagonal line across the man's ribcage. He gulped and settled back.

.

"Okay," Alphys said as she reached into her pouch. "S-So, um, unfortunately, because you're a skeleton, w-we're going to have to be just a tiny bit more… invasive than we, um, usually would like to be. Since you could theoretically just separate your limbs from the rest of you and l-leave them somewhere else."

"…Fair," Gaster said.

The lizard pulled out a silver ring with a set of runes on it that looked to be about the size to fit a finger. She looked the skeleton over, her mouth twisting to the side as she let out a small, thoughtful sound. "Would you prefer the neck or, um, s-somewhere on the head?"

"Neck, I suppose."

.

Alphys sparked the ring with magic and pulled it out thin, then got in close to him. He tilted his head up for her and she split the metal and clasped it around one of his upper vertebrae.

"Th-This one shouldn't feel like anything," she explained as it flattened and thinned with the contact, so flush with the bone that it almost looked a part of it. She patted it with her thumb and the runes lit yellow before dimming down to nothing. "Is that okay?" she asked as she gave him a little space again.

Gaster carefully reached up and touched the band. Though it tinked against his fingertip, he settled again and nodded. "You're right. Undetectable unless I touch it."

"Good! All it is, is, um, a mark to say you're a prisoner of the Queen, technically, b-but you're allowed to go out," Alphys said. "It also has a hum the, um, guards will know about, so… You know, you c-can't really hide away somewhere, but it's also good if you somehow get lost without any, um, ill-intent. Which has happened before, so…!" She smiled bashfully. "Okay, st-step one, done. That's the easy part." She looked apologetic. "The next one might sting for a second."

"Do what you have to," Gaster said.

.

Alphys nodded and went back into her bag. She took out a set of blue gloves and pulled them on, then retrieved a small vial, the liquid contents of which softly shifted in colour. She pulled the cork and dabbed a few drops of it onto her fingertips, where it stained like paint, and then leaned in.

"Sorry, just n-need to, ah…" She reached into the man's ribcage, carefully avoiding his soul. "Um, brace yourself," she said, then touched a vertebrae near where the rib connected.

Gaster winced and drew in a short, sharp breath. "Bloody hell," he hissed.

"S-Sorry! I know." Alphys said quickly. "I-I'll be fast. Hang on. Your, um… Your magic is going to go a little w-wonky and you won't be able to talk for m-maybe a minute. Ready?"

"Do it," he said.

"O-Okay, here we g-go." Alphys drew bands of the liquid magic along the bone.

Gaster's energy reacted with a discordant chime. He clenched his fingers hard into his pant legs.

"This is, u-um, to prevent the teleporting," she said. "I-If you try it, your magic is g-going to make that sound again and you'll get the symptoms of the, um, offkeys for about thirty seconds. S-Sorry about that, but i-it's, um, just sort of the nature of preventing certain amounts of m-magic flow without actually, you know, h-hurting you. It's also a general dampener, like the cell was. It has an exception built in if y-you're engaged in a proper battle instigated by someone else, but otherwise, you're just, um, n-not going to be very strong."

Gaster waited for Alphys to pull away and gave her a curt nod. She smiled.

"Th-Thanks again for cooperating." She pulled off her gloves and shocked them so they dissolved into sparks and vanished. "Of course, we'll remove all of that before your banishment. You can p-put your things back on now."

.

As the skeleton grabbed the protective plate and the tunic, Alphys also brought out his thicker, black jacket that had been stored away in the area between the two doors.

"Y-You, um, also may feel a little colder than normal," she said as she returned. "Just so you know that it's not, um, you know, you b-being sick or anything." She handed over the jacket. "W-We had to search the pockets, but we didn't take anything. Ch-Check, though, just in case."

Gaster nodded. He pulled the jacket on and pulled out the contents of the pockets— an archaic-looking cellphone, a battered wallet, a few coins, and a little bone charm shaped like a dog. He put them away and cleared his throat. "It's everything, thank you."

"Okay, then! Y-You're free to go with Sans," she said. "I'll probably p-peek in every once in a while to see how you're doing."

"I'm not gonna forget to feed him, Alph," Sans said with a wink.

"I kn-know!" she spluttered. "It's just—!"

"And I ain't forgettin' bedtime either, don't worry."

"Sans—!"

"And I can get 'im extra blankies if he gets a chill, cool?"

"Sans!"

.

Gaster laughed. The noise paused the other monsters in their tracks as the old skeleton chuckled, then quickly cleared his throat.

"Pardon." There was a little light in his eyes as he failed to completely suppress the remnants of a small smile. "I will be as low maintenance as possible. I don't expect I'll be doing much unless something is asked of me."

"Ah. Yeah. Involuntary staycation," Sans said with a wink. "Alright, just follow me and be chill."

.

The sharp-toothed strolled for the door and Alphys followed. Gaster took a few steps, but his gaze rested on Asriel. The boy didn't budge. Gaster bowed, but said nothing more before moving on. Asriel sighed to himself and finally leaned up off the wall to follow them out.

.

Queen Undyne and Archon Marama met them in front of the statue. Undyne's gaze was hard and stern, brow heavily furrowed and yellow eye gleaming. She'd summoned one of her tridents and held it with an iron grip. Marama approached them, her cool eyes locked on the old skeleton.

"The Queen has given you some leeway, Interloper," she said. "I trust you will not make us regret this."

Gaster dropped down on one knee and bowed his head. "I have no intention of causing any more trouble. And. If I may?"

"You may."

"I once again offer my deepest apologies for the problems I've caused your soldiers and the people of your Kingdom," he said. "My intention was not to hurt, but to help. My methods were born from desperation. I do not ask for forgiveness, only that you know that my intentions were not malicious."

"Be that as it may. The harm you've caused was great," she said. "However, the Kingdom acknowledges your apology. The rest is up to the Demon of Starhome."

"Get up, man," Undyne growled, turning sharply on her heel. "Move it, we're getting outta here."

.

The Archon beckoned to them and folded her hands into her sleeves. Sans gave Gaster a nudge and strolled forward, and Alphys hurried after him, shooting the old skeleton an apologetic smile as she passed and went to walk with Undyne. Gaster let out a little sigh, stiffened his shoulders, and headed down the hallway, only to pause and look back for Asriel.

"Prince Asriel, are you—?"

"I'm not the Prince here," Asriel said. "Go."

"…We can figure this out."

"There's nothin' to figure out, not in the way you mean," Asriel growled. He stopped himself short of an insult and took a deep breath "You're wrong about her. And… And you're gonna see it."

"COME ON, LET'S GO, PUNKS!" Undyne boomed from the end of the hall.

Gaster cracked a lopsided smile. "I suppose not getting in trouble five minutes out of the cell would be the wise move, hm?"

Asriel sighed, running his hand through the fur between his horns, but he followed along, too, keeping just a few feet behind Gaster.

.

Undyne lead them to a portal's pedestal and stomped the butt of her spear into the ground before it. Intensely bright cyan magic emerged between the crystals in a torrent and she lead them through it to the great field before the Soul's mountain in its centre.

.

When they'd marched about halfway, Asriel picked out the distant sight of his sisters and Papyrus coming to meet them from after. Gaster saw them, too— almost dug his heels into the ground, especially as Papyrus called out and waved to them.

.

Undyne stopped in her tracks. "There. Far enough." She turned, pointing her trident right at Gaster as her long, bright hair streamed in the breeze. "You. Duel. Now."

"What, right here?!" Asriel bleated.

"Not you! Him!"

"O-Oh." The boy stepped back and off to the side. "Sorry, yeah, that makes more sense…"

Undyne's eye narrowed and she glared at the skeleton. "You got the badge, didn't ya?"

"I did," Gaster said with a solemn nod. "…Whatever you like, your Majesty."

"U-Undyne?" Alphys reached up and grabbed her arm. "A-Are you sure? The… I mean, the limiter doesn't work if you instigate the battle, so—"

"Pff! As if I'd ever fight a guy with a limiter on. Sans, ref?"

"Sounds good," the skeleton said.

.

As the light of Undyne's soul brightened through the seams of her armour, Marama let out a little sigh and gathered the other monsters off to the side and out of the way. Undyne prowled the field, a dark, imposing form in the daylight; a predator eyeing her mark. She took a steady stance across from her chosen opponent and slung her trident up over her shoulders.

"Hey. Gaster, right?"

The skeleton nodded.

"You got some nerve, you know that?! Comin' into my Kingdom; beatin' up some little squirt. That ain't right." Her eye gleamed. "And under my watch! You're lucky these kids argued real early not t'hurt ya too bad, or you'dda been in a full-bone cast a while ago!"

Though Gaster said nothing, he grimaced. He clenched his fists and his mismatched eyes lit up.

.

Undyne's magic blazed and whipped streaks of electric blue through the air. The trumpeting burst of her battle resonance sent a shock through everyone who heard it. Gaster's hum swelled to match, a strong, almost mechanical-sounding melody slotting in where it could in time with hers. Undyne grasped her spear tight and raised it up to the sky and its surface glistened with frost. She braced her feet, bared her sharp teeth in a wide grin, and charged forward, ripping up turf behind her.

.

Gaster's magic twisted around him and built up a pyramid of bone, sheltering him within. Undyne and her trident crashed against him, smashing a chunk away on the first hit. Her magic erupted into a torrent of spears and, with a thrust of her weapon, the hailstorm of blades ripped away more of the shell. The skeleton didn't budge.

"FIGHT, DAMN IT!" she demanded. She raised her weapon high and a halo of radiant spears crackled into existence above her.

Each point aimed at Gaster's shell and she slammed them inwards all at once— an ice-cold blast shooting off from the centre and puffing out into a frosted mist.

.

Undyne's next blow sent another burst of mist outwards. Bone shattered into glittering dust under her strike. She jerked back, growling, and reached out with clawed fingers to drag water from the air in sharp, arcing waves. Gaster split from his shell— a bone golem, as he'd become once before.

.

Alphys let out a little shriek. She clung tight to Sans, and he gave her a reassuring thump on the back.

.

Undyne sent torrents surging at the construct, but Gaster didn't move an inch. She froze the water mid-blow and it shattered against him. She hurled spears from all angles. Still, the bone golem made no move.

.

"Interesting strategy," Marama said. "…He does know he won't be held accountable for damage dealt in a duel, within reason, yes?"

"I… I don't think he's gonna hit," Asriel said.

"What's going on?!" Frisk had sprinted ahead of the others to meet them, almost crashing into Asriel as she slipped on the wet grass.

"Duel," Sans said.

"Why?!" she demanded.

The skeleton shrugged. "Pride?"

"Did something happen?!"

"Nah."

"The Queen is very… passionate, sometimes," Marama said, the faintest tinge of an exasperated strain in her voice.

"Shouldn't we stop it if he's not fighting back?!" Frisk demanded.

"Think she's gotta get it outta her system," Sans said.

.

Frisk fumbled for words as Chara and Papyrus caught up, too.

"Why are you so fast?!" Chara demanded.

Frisk gestured, wide-eyed, to the duel as Undyne pummelled a river of magic into the statuesque bone golem. The freckled girl's eyes went wide.

"Ooh! Is she beating him up?!"

"Chara, that's not helping!" Frisk squeaked.

.

"NNGAAAAAAAH, GET OUTTA THERE!" Undyne roared. "IF YOU AIN'T GONNA FIGHT ME WITH IT, IT'S WORTH LESS THAN GARBAGE!"

She twirled her trident in the air like a baton and it captured the gleaming water she'd called before, twisting it into a roaring tornado. With a sweep of her arm, she aimed it at the golem and fired it. It drilled into him, cracking the chestplate, then burst into a rushing pillar of water. One knee gave, and Undyne plunged through the tsunami, stabbing straight into the construct's chest. She raised the water into the air again as if conducting a massive, elemental serpent, and slammed it straight down onto both of them. The weight of the monster Queen and the wave cracked deeper into the golem and Gaster, for the first time, shifted away.

.

Undyne was on him again in an instant, hurtling spears from above and beneath, striking at the limbs until fragments fell away. Another burst of water severed Gaster from his construct, and most of the bone golem dissolved, leaving a tired, sopping skeleton standing before her.

"Hah!" she barked. "For real, this time, lessgo!"

.

Undyne's spears were sharp and cold, but Gaster didn't even attempt to move as they struck him. Every contact drew a cringe, or a pained ooh, or a hiss of sympathy from the ones watching from the sidelines, even Chara.

.

Frisk couldn't rip her eyes away from the skeleton even for an instant. "He's not doing anything," she squeaked. "He's not even dodging."

"His choice," Sans said.

"B-But he's oozing, look!" She pointed out the gradient of magic turning to dust on the blades of grass closest to him.

"Aren't you ref?" Asriel asked.

"Yup."

"You're not gonna stop it?"

"Nope."

"Then I'm gonna stop it." Frisk took one step forward, but the skeleton grabbed her shoulder to stop her. "Sans, come on! He can't just take it, right?!"

His eye flashed. "Wait. Two minutes. If it's still on, then do whatever you like. Okay?"

Frisk frowned with confusion, but she nodded. She gritted her teeth, locked her eyes on the fight, and counted down in her head.

.

Another hit from below, one from above, and a wave slammed Gaster off his feet and, even then, he hardly moved except to stand again.

"What are you thinking, huh?!" Undyne demanded. "No blasters?! Nothin'?! You're just gonna take it?!"

"I… I have no desire to fight you," the skeleton said.

"TOO BAD!"

Spears struck him again. He clutched onto his opposite arm and backed up. Undyne stomped after him, her magic raising up around her, circling like sharks.

"You shouldda picked on someone your own size to begin with!" she shouted. "You got any idea what you put all those kids through?! What about my soldiers, huh?! Hell, you got any idea what you put my wife through?!"

"…I do."

"Then why'd you do it?!"

"I had no choice."

"No choice?!" Undyne snarled. "Man, you really piss me off!"

.

She sent everything she had at him— a school of razor-sharp fish that blasted through him and knocked him down again. They circled and as soon as he straightened up, hit again. And again. And again. And—

.

"Waaaaaait, wait wait wait, sttoooop!" Frisk sprinted out into the field and stuck her hand out, catching the bolts in midair as they hurtled straight for the downed skeleton. "Time out?!"

"KID, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO GET IN THE WAY LIKE THAT!" Undyne bellowed.

"I know but he's not gonna fight you, he's just gonna break all his bones! And it's gonna suck!"

"Guhhhhh, kiiiiiiiid, it's a duel!" the Queen complained.

"I know!" She looked back at Gaster and, even without getting close, she could see he was a mess. "Can you guys end it?!"

Undyne frowned deeply but, after a moment, she huffed and threw up her hands. "Fine, fine. He's gotta do it, too, though. HEAR THAT, IDIOT? DON'T ASK ME WHY, BUT THE KID'S TAKIN' PITY ON YOU."

.

"…Stop," Gaster breathed.

"Huh?" Frisk asked.

"…It is a duel, I can handle it." He looked up at her with a dangerous gleam in his eyes despite the fresh cracks in his skull and the weakness in his voice. "The last thing I need… is pity from something like you."

Frisk pouted and glared back at him. "Too bad! You got it. You gonna tap out or you wanna just keep getting stabbed?!"

Gaster grimaced. He tried to get up, but a gash in his leg made it collapse under him. He leaned back in the grass and put a hand to his head. Undyne stepped forward and stood above them.

"Hey. Moron," she said. "Gonna spare you. Takin' it? Goin' once. Goin' twice. G—"

"I… accept," Gaster said.

"Hmph." Undyne turned, the magic churning in the air fading away. "Mercy it is, then."

.

Frisk sighed with relief and she carefully released the hold she had on Undyne's attack. The water plopped straight to the ground, mostly on Gaster's head, knocking him onto his back with a grunt. Undyne burst out laughing.

"Final hit: Frisk!" she joked.

"Aah! Sorry!" Frisk said. "Sorry, sorry, I shouldda gone back a little—"

Gaster stuck up a broken hand and waved off her words, then simply slumped in a heap.

.

Frisk took a deep breath and looked back at her friends. Asriel watched her intently, as did Chara. They'd both crept a little closer. Papyrus gave her two thumbs up and she replied with a little, heart-shaped bubble. He beamed before he raced to Undyne, as did a watery-eyed Alphys. Archon Marama was simply shaking her head. Sans, however, stared at Frisk with an odd expression, one eye black, the other beaming. His sharp-toothed grin had waned a little, and he was still as stone.

.

She turned back to Gaster, who had forced himself up onto his knees. Dust was tumbling from his wounds like sand poured through fingers. The kid's heart thunked and she knelt down in front of him. His head jerked up, his eyes boring into her. Frisk held her hands out like she was trying to calm an agitated beast.

"Hey, d-don't… Don't move too much, okay?" she said.

The skeleton grunted in reply.

"I-I know you… Heck, you probably don't want me anywhere near you," she said. "But, um, you gotta know, they don't have healing magic here, and the stuff they do have works slower than… It's pretty slow. I dunno how good it is for breaks. My magic can help."

"…What on earth are you talking about? All monsters have heali—"

"Not here," Frisk said.

Gaster glared at her incredulously.

"I-It's not their fault, there was a weird curse that messed people up," Frisk said quickly. "It doesn't matter, though. Can I fix you?"

"…Did you plan this?" he asked sharply.

"Well, yeah, Sans said I had to wait two minutes before I could come help," she said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn'ta listened, I shouldda just—"

"Not… What? Are you…?" He pinched onto his brow as if he suddenly had a splitting headache. "Not. That."

The kid stared back at him blankly. "Uh. Then wh—? Wait, who cares, can I heal you? Please?"

"How—?"

"I have to touch you."

"Not even if I—"

"Dude, you have a huge crack in your head, can I please just fix you?! I dunno how long it takes them to get healing stuff to you!"

.

Gaster stared at her with cold eyes. He shifted uncomfortably and pushed one hand against his opposite arm, but the sleeve hung a little loose. A faint, sickly flush ran across his cheekbones. Frisk offered her hand.

"You don't have to do anything," she said.

When he still didn't move, she carefully scooted a little closer. She reached for his hand, but looked up at him before she touched him. She'd be afraid he was about to throw up if he hadn't been a skeleton. His shoulders sagged a little. He cursed softly under his breath.

"F… Fine."

.

Frisk's eyes lit up and she took his hand in both of hers. His grip stayed completely limp, but she squeezed him tight. Her red magic seeped through him and froze him in place. For the first time ever since she'd learned to do the reversal, the contact wasn't smooth. She felt a deep dread— a frantic, burning heat in the beat of his soul.

"Relax," she said softly. "Don't panic. It's just a second. Okay?"

.

Her words barely helped, but she proceeded anyway, searching back just a couple minutes to before the fight. She pulled him along despite his energy's protests, but he was so agitated that she dropped him off a little early, just prior to Undyne's first strike.

.

His soul flared bright and his battle resonance burst to life, but just for a second before it silenced itself and he recoiled, yanking away from her and clapping a hand to his head. His fingers ran over the spot that had been damaged on the top of his skull, probing for a wound where there was none.

.

Frisk smiled sheepishly and got up. "Oookay. You should be good for now," she said. "Um. Talk later?"

Gaster merely stared back at her, bewildered and incredulous. She shrugged and waved awkwardly and headed off back to her friends. Sans was closest; gave her an approving thump on the shoulder as he strolled past her to peek in on Gaster.

.

"Hey, ya good?" Sans asked.

"I…" The old skeleton rubbed at the back of his skull and sat up a little. "I'm afraid you might not be a very good referee."

"Nah," Sans said, tilting his head back over his shoulder and cutting his eyes at the tiny time god who was being congratulated and teasingly scolded by her friends. His sharkish grin widened. "Think I called it just right."